Distracted Driving Involves More Than Just Cell Phones

More and more studies are finding distracted driving to be extremely dangerous. While most of us categorize distracted driving as using a cell phone, there are many other behaviors that are considered distracted driving as well.

What is Distracted Driving?

Distracted driving happens anytime we take our eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, or focus our attention on anything other than the primary task of driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website distraction.gov describes the three main types of distractions as:

Avoiding Personal Injury While Driving

The statistic are staggering. One Sac Bee article about distracted driving highlights a study by The Allstate Foundation that monitored roughly 70 intersections near high schools, in 26 counties in California, for one hour. Within that single hour, more than 7,000 cases of distracted driving were reported. Of these cases, three of the drivers failed to stop at the red light. The top driving distractions that were observed were all 100% avoidable. The list of the worst offenders include:

Additional distractions reported by the NHTSA include reading, talking to passengers, using a navigation system, watching a video and adjusting a radio, CD or MP3 player. According to the NHTSA, one out of every ten United States traffic fatalities are caused by distracted driving.

Frank D Penney understands that an accident is not necessarily your fault. If you or someone you know has been hurt by a distracted driver, call Sacramento auto accident attorney Frank D Penney today for a free case evaluation.